


Hidden Motives, Tortured Souls

by Furuyanagi_Churin



Category: Keyakizaka46 (Band), Sakurazaka46 (Band)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Implied Bullying, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Murder Mystery but not quite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:56:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28921692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Furuyanagi_Churin/pseuds/Furuyanagi_Churin
Summary: “Good afternoon.You are one of fourteen specifically chosen for this… game. You can accept, or reject this invitation; however, I suggest you step away from the latter option, as there will be some dire consequences if you choose to do so.As soon as you step into the island, there will be clues as to who I am. But be careful, though. Each one of you has a secret that will be revealed if you don’t find out who I am. And there is an additional risk of someone… perishing, so to speak.Well, good luck and I guess have as much fun as you can while you’re still alive.”A mysterious letter is handed to fourteen girls, some who are acquaintances, and others who are isolated. Different relationships, different alliances. But only two goals. To find their captor, and to find a way out. Will they all survive?
Relationships: Habu Mizuho/Koike Minami, Habu Mizuho/Moriya Akane (implied), Morita Hikaru/Tamura Hono, Moriya Akane/Sugai Yuuka
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	1. The Beginning of Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! I've been wanting to get this one up and running for a long, long while now. Nobody's Fault's MV got me thinking about a possible murder-ish mystery, so yeah this is what came from it :3. Thanks to everyone on Twitter who read it through and gave their thoughts on the intitial few chapters of this and ofc as always thanks to RukaKikuchi on Wattpad and on Twitter for putting up with my brain... I think the tags say a lot already but lmao.
> 
> Enjoy and please comment on what you think of it because man... I'm up for constructive criticism. 
> 
> PS I'm not good at summaries so that's the best you guys will get.
> 
> Post-publication PPS: This is only going to involve the Nobody's Fault members and a mysterious antagonist that only a handful of people aside from me and Ruka know :)

_“Good afternoon._

_You are one of fourteen specifically chosen for this… game. You can accept, or reject this invitation; however, I suggest you step away from the latter option, as there will be some dire consequences if you choose to do so._

_As soon as you step into the island, there will be clues as to who I am. But be careful, though. Each one of you has a secret that will be revealed if you don’t find out who I am. And there is an additional risk of someone… perishing, so to speak._

_Well, good luck and I guess have as much fun as you can while you’re still alive.”_

Morita Hikaru looked at the unsigned letter in her hands, occasionally looking up to bask in the views of the bright blue sky in the horizon.

Waves crashing against the metal hull of the boat, several girls unfamiliar to her were talking amongst one another about, what she thought were, bland topics. 

“Where do you guys think the last seven people are?” One voice spoke, looking for any more faces she could easily judge. “There're only seven on us on this boat, and whoever wrote the letter said there was fourteen of us.”

“Please stop.” Another voice said bluntly, rolling her eyes as she stood up, walking away from the first girl. “It’s getting annoying.”

Hikaru’s legs, on their own accord, had been fidgeting unconsciously, a clear sign of her boredom. She was nervous, to say the least, her heart pounding to the beat of the waves.

_Honk! Honk!_

The horn of the boat suddenly sounded, startling mostly everyone on board; the only exceptions were Hikaru and a taller girl, both of whom had made unnecessary eye contact with one another.

“Hey, look!”

As Hikaru looked in the distance, she and the other girls could see the island coming closer. She heard a couple more whispers, but her mind was racing with several different questions.

Why was she of all people picked for this strange “game”, as the letter writer put it? Who were they and what were they planning for her and these other girls she barely knew?

"Why does it feel like we're getting watched..?"

When Hikaru overheard that, she looked around to see if anyone was in fact watching them. However, she didn’t see anyone.

Soon, the boat arrived at the island and the girls saw a man who seemed to be waiting for them. As they got off the boat, the man escorted the girls.

The island was barren, as you’d expect from a deserted island. The clouds in the sky were a shade of grey, like a storm could occur at any moment.

“Ugh, my phone doesn’t get any service here at all…”

“Of course you won’t get anything here; we’re on an isolated island.”

“Jeez, I know that, but still…”

“Hey, are we gonna get something to eat soon? I’m getting hungry~”

Hikaru couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone was watching her, looking around her as the group continued walking.

After a short walk, she noticed that the man looked upwards towards a hill. When she followed his gaze, she indeed saw another group of girls standing in the distance looking over them.

_“They must be the other girls who were invited here… Guess they arrived before us.”_

Once they had started to go up the hill, the girls saw what looked like an abandoned building. It didn’t seem like an inhabitable space, let alone for fourteen people. None of them knew how they were expected to live in a rundown place like that.

As they got closer, the group of girls Hikaru noticed before were now standing just a few feet away, discussing something amongst themselves.

“Hey, who are they?”

“They must be the other people who’re meant to be on this island with us.”

The other girls started looking at Hikaru’s group as they approached the building. Some of the girls looked unapproachable, however, one of them immediately walked up to their group with a smile.

“Glad to see you all made it safely!” the girl said.

Hikaru was taken aback by her attitude. It didn’t fit the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the deserted island.

“So, what’s your name?” the girl asked Hikaru.

“Uh… I’m Hikaru.”

“Hikaru-chan then. It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Yuuka.”

“Since we all just got here, why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves? If we’re going to be living on this island together, we should try to get to know each other.”

Hikaru looked at the other girls, who were all apprehensive in even uttering a word. Yuuka seemed to notice their nervousness and looked towards her group. One of the girls from her group approached her and held her shoulder.

“Yuuka, maybe we should give them time to rest. We all just got here, after all.”

“Oh. Right.”

The girl looked towards the other group and bowed politely. Hikaru looked back towards the building and pointed towards it.

“Maybe we should go in there,” she suggested, “Y’know… get settled in.”

“Yeah,” one of the girls in Hikaru’s group said. “We need to unload our stuff, and then eat.”

“Jeez, is all you can think about food, Rina?” another of the girls asked, rolling her eyes.

As everyone made their way inside, the man who escorted them suddenly left. They didn’t even notice he was gone by the time they got in the building.

Hikaru walked around to see what was inside. The room they were in right now was empty, the windows were either dirty or broken. 

“Sheesh, you’d think whoever brought us here would at least clean this place up.”

“Honestly, I have a feeling that this game isn’t a friendly one. Otherwise, why would this person bring us to a deserted island?”

“Yeah, plus this whole place gives me the creeps!”

“Everyone, please just calm down,” Yuuka tried to calm everyone down, however, the murmuring became louder. “Sure, this may not be the most ideal living space, but we need to live with what we have.”

Hikaru looked around at the other girls from Yuuka’s group. It seemed like they had all already unpacked most of their belongings.

“Hey, Akane, do you think we should help them unpack?” She heard Yuuka speak up, talking to her friend as she started to approach her.

“Yuuka, I know you mean well, but try not to pester them too much. They just got here.”

Yuuka only sighed, “You have a point, I guess…”

The girl named Akane reached her hand out and held Yuuka’s shoulder.

“It’ll be alright. We just need to try and get along with each other.” 

“Yeah… Yeah! You’re right.”

Hikaru watched as the two girls embraced, Akane patting Yuuka’s head. As she was watching, she suddenly felt like someone was glaring at her.

When she turned around, she saw a girl with short hair looking at her.

“Y’know, it’s not very polite to stare at other people.”

“R-Right. Sorry…”

She could sense hostility in the girl’s voice, and slowly walked away. She started down one of the hallways leading to some of the other rooms in the building, including one that was strangely locked. 

_“Huh? Weird… Wonder why only this one is locked.”_

“Boo!”

Hikaru yelped in shock as she heard someone come up from behind her. She turned around and saw one of the girls that was part of her group.

“Hehe, sorry I scared you,” the girl said with a giggle.

“Ah… Um, Matsuda-san, right?”

“Yeah. Morita-san, right?”

“Mm-hm… What are you doing?”

“I just wanted to get to know everyone a bit more, since we’re gonna be living together and all.”

“Right.” 

“Besides, what’re you doing all the way here, by yourself?”

“I was just seeing what else was around here,” she said. “We could use most of these rooms as bedrooms, and there’s this one door that’s locked.”

“Ooh, mysterious~ I wonder what could be in there~”

Hikaru looked closely at the lock, “For a place as dilapidated as this one, this lock looks new. There’s no rust on it whatsoever.”

“So that means someone must’ve put it there… I wonder if it was the gamemaster.”

“It might be, but we can’t be sure of that until we have more evidence.”

“Right.”

“We should get back before anyone gets suspicious of us.”

They headed back to the main room where two of the girls were in a heated argument. They were both pulled back by some of the others, but it seemed like neither were willing to back down.

“Say it again, I dare you!”

“Tsk, this is exactly what I mean. The younger they are, the more immature they are.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Matsuda asked.

“We don’t exactly know ourselves. Yamasaki-san must’ve overheard something that Watanabe-san said.”

“What exactly did she say?” Hikaru asked. 

“Honestly, I wasn’t paying much attention. But I think it might’ve been to do with her age.”

“I am not a child! I can take care of myself, you hear?!”

“Well then, if that’s the case, don’t go to anyone when you’re in danger. If you want to prove yourself, you should at least know how to protect yourself.”

“Now, now. Please calm down, both of you,” Yuuka said, stepping between the two. “Fighting isn’t going to solve anything.”

Even as the room settled down, the tension between the two was still high. Yamasaki huffed and walked to the other side of the room.

“Ah, Yuuka-san,” Hikaru called out, approaching the taller girl, “I was taking a walk around and found a few rooms out back.”

“Really? What did you find?”

“Most of the rooms are empty and could probably be used for bedrooms. There’s one room, however, that’s locked.”

“I see… Well, I suggest we all decide where to sleep, and who to sleep with. That way, we don’t have a repeat of what happened today.” 

“That would probably be for the best,” Matsuda said. “Plus it’d give us all time to get to know each other!”

“Hikaru-chan, how many rooms were there?”

“There were seven, including the locked one.”

“Alright then. Let’s see, there’s fourteen of us in total, so let’s divide up the rooms by groups. Three in two rooms, two in four rooms. Sound good with everyone?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and started to discuss amongst one another. 

Hikaru looked towards Matsuda, “Have you got anyone in mind to room with?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna room with Chukemon~”

“Ch-Chukemon..?”

“Who told you to use my nickname with people neither of us know well?” A new voice whined as Hikaru saw a girl approach Matsuda.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it!”

“Um, so the two of you know each other?” Hikaru asked, slightly confused by the situation.

“Yeah! We’ve been friends since middle school.”

“I see. Um, it’s nice to meet you… Chukemon-san?”

“My name’s Takemoto. Takemoto Yui. Jeez, Matsuri, this is why I told you not to use my nickname in public.”

“Sorry, sorry. Ehehe…”

“Well, please excuse me, Matsuda-san, Takemoto-san.”

“You too, Morita-san.”

“Do you know who you want to room with?”

Hikaru hummed quizzingly and looked around the room. She saw everyone else being friendly and chatting amongst themselves, most of them having now chosen a roommate.

However, she noticed one girl by herself. Seeing her alone, she approached the girl and tried to strike a conversation with her.

“Uh, Tamura-san, was it?”

“Yes?”

“Have you picked a roommate yet?”

“No… I don’t really know most of the people here.”

“Well, I haven’t picked a roommate yet either, so… Would you want to be roommates with me?”

Tamura’s face lit up, nodding excitedly as she extended her hand out for a handshake, “Please call me Hono.” 

“Nice to meet you, Hono-chan. You can call me Hikaru.”

Once everyone was divided into groups, they gathered their things and put them into their respective rooms. After all that was done, they all congregated back in the main room when another mysterious letter came their way. 

Akane took the letter and opened it up, reading aloud what was written.

“It’s finally nice to see you all together. There was one small thing I forgot to mention; I would suggest not trying to escape this island, or else a punishment awaits whoever decides to. Starting from today, there will be some interesting developments as you continue your new communal lifestyle here.”

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Watanabe scoffed.

“Clearly, the gamemaster has something up their sleeves already."

“Well, whatever the case, we need to be vigilant. We don’t know what could come next, so when something does occur, we need to stay together.”

Hikaru looked around and saw the worried looks of the other girls.

"For now, though, we should just settle down and get comfortable."

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I have a question! When are we gonna eat~?”

"Can we? So I don't have to hear her whine anymore."

“Do we even know where they keep the food?”

"Is there even any food here?"

As they were all asking questions, they heard a loud thud coming from one of the other rooms.

“What was that?!”

Akane walked towards the source of the sound, opening the door to a dark room. When she turned on the light, she found that it was full of food and rations.

“Well, looks like we have an answer to one of the questions.”

Once she went back to the others, she explained what she had found. 

“Anyone here know how to cook?”

“I can probably make something out of what’s in there,” Yuuka replied, “But knowing me, something will happen…”

“I’ll help out,” Hikaru and another girl said simultaneously. She met gazes with the girl, shyly bowing her head to her.

“Thanks, Hikaru-chan, Yuipon. I appreciate the help.”

“No problem.”


	2. Everything is Temporary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is slowly getting settled into their new surroundings. However, some are more paranoid than others. When tragedy befalls one of them, the paranoia increases.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this may be a one a week or even a once every two week schedule after this chapter. But I'm so motivated to get this fic posted.

After preparing the food and eating, everyone had separated and left for their rooms. Yuuka and Akane both were finishing unloading their things into their room.

“Hey, Akane."

The younger girl turned her head, looking at Yuuka and noticing the worried look on her face.

“What’s up?”

“I’ve just been thinking about why we’re here. I mean, we know most of the people in our group, but the second group of girls seem less familiar with each other and us.”

Akane pondered on the thought, “Then what brought us together has to be the gamemaster’s motives.”

“Exactly. Whoever they are, they must’ve known all of us in some way. Or, if not… I don’t know.”

“Hey, we’ve got to be optimistic here. We don’t exactly know why we were brought here, but you’re right. We need to work together so we can get out of here.”

Yuuka nodded, “Yeah.”

Akane then walked over to Yuuka, who was in the middle of spreading out her sleeping bag. She knelt down and hugged her.

“A-Akane, what are you doing?” 

“I just really wanted to hug you.”

Yuuka felt her cheeks heat up, wrapping her arms around Akane’s waist.

“What else did I expect from my girlfriend..?”

She heard a light chuckle and looked up to see Akane smiling. She leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips. 

“Don’t worry, I’m always here for you,” Akane replied, giving Yuuka a sly wink.

“Well I’m glad…”

Akane leaned in for another kiss, gently pushing her back onto the sleeping bag. However, their intimate moment was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

Akane stood immediately to see who was at the door, leaving Yuuka sitting flustered on top of her sleeping bag. When she opened the door, instead of seeing someone, she saw a piece of paper.

“Huh?” She picked it up and closed the door. 

Opening the folded piece of paper in her hand, she saw a note written in someone’s messy handwriting.

_ “You better watch out. I’m coming for her first. If you want her safe, then you better come out and face me yourself.” _

“Akane, who was at the door?”

“No one,” she said, folding the paper back up and shoving it inside her trouser pocket. “It was a false alarm.”

“Huh, that’s weird.”

As Akane made her way back to her own sleeping bag, her mind still lingered on the note. She now knew that she had the chance to see who the gamemaster really was, but she also needed to protect the person she loves.

_ “Yuuka… I promised I’d be by your side… But, now I don’t know if I can keep it.”  _

...

_ The next morning... _

Akane was having trouble waking up, when the sound of shuffling footsteps echoed into her ears. She started out of her room to see what everyone was doing.

"Ah, good morning, Akane-san,” one girl said as she approached the rest of the group.

“Morning, Hikaru-chan," she groaned, walking in Yuuka's direction.

“You okay, Akane?” Yuuka asked, preoccupied with helping the younger girl serve breakfast to everyone.

“Y-yeah… Just groggy.”

She saw the worried look on Yuuka’s face and immediately turned away to find somewhere to sit. She took a seat next to Watanabe, who was grumpily sitting next to Yamasaki, who didn’t seem any happier.

“Have you two still not made up yet, Risa?” Akane whispered to Watanabe.

“I refuse to. She seems like such a brat.”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Yamasaki said, glaring at Risa.

Akane was the last person who was given food as Yuuka sat down next to her.

“Ten-chan, did you do anything to upset her?”

“No, I didn’t,” Ten grumbled before eating her food.

“Yuuka,” Akane called out to the girl. “Can we have a chat? Just you and me.”

“Uh, sure…”

The two got up and walked to somewhere that no one else could hear them.

“What is it, Akane? Is something wrong?”

“I have a bad feeling about something,” Akane replied, “Just know that if something ever happens to me, you have to move on. I wouldn’t want you to grieve over me.”

“W-what? What’s going on? Why are you saying this?”

“I just want you to trust me on this, Yuuka. There’s something I don’t feel confident in telling you, but you’ll know in time.”

“Hold on! I don’t understand! Is something going on?”

“It’s complicated!” 

Yuuka was taken aback by Akane raising her voice. She didn’t know how to respond but she could feel tears well in her eyes.

“A-Akane…”

Akane realized she had gone too far and hurt her. She took a step back, seeing the frown on Yuuka’s face.

“Yuuka, I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s fine… Whatever it is, it’s fine. Just… be careful.”

Yuuka just walked away while wiping away her tears. Akane felt immense guilt yelling at her girlfriend that way. She buried her face in her hands, sighing as she leaned against the nearby wall.

_ “Yuuka, I’m sorry… but I’m doing this for your safety.” _

“Akane?”

She looked up after hearing someone call her name. She saw a girl with short hair approach her with a concerned expression.

“Is everything okay?”

“It’s nothing, Mizuho… I just need space…”

“Oh, I see. Sorry…”

“If anyone asks where I am, tell them I just went outside to clear my head.”

“Okay.”

As Akane walked away, Mizuho could only look on, wondering what had happened. She rejoined the rest of the group.

“Habu-san, is Moriya-san okay?” one of the younger girls asked.

“Yeah, she just needs some time alone.”

“Oh. I hope she’s okay.”

Yuuka kept quiet, overhearing the conversation. She felt a mix of emotions, and didn’t know what to do or say. She just sat there, her mind focused on what Akane could’ve been doing. 

Meanwhile, another girl was looking at Habu with a suspicious gaze.

“Miichan, what’s the matter?”

“Don’t you think that Habu-chan and Akanen are strangely close?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Ever since we got here, the two of them have just been together like two peas in a pod. And now Habu-chan offers to go and see if she’s okay.” 

“Well, Habu gets along with everyone. Aren’t you just jealous, Miichan?”

“Shut up!” Koike pouted. “I’m serious, Oze-chan. Before we got here, Akanen’s just been with Yuuka and no one else.” 

“I mean, the two are dating, after all.”

“But that’s what’s strange about Habu-chan suddenly being close to her.”

Ozeki rolled her eyes, not convinced by Koike’s argument. It was normal for Koike to get jealous of Habu spending time with other people; the two of them were close friends for the longest time and Koike was a habitual worrywort.

“Just calm down a little. Akane’s been out a lot longer than any of us want her to, so maybe she just wanted to see if anything happened to her.”

Koike just huffed, continuing to watch Habu.

“I guess so.”

“See, you worry too much. Just try to relax a bit.”

“Okay…”

…

Akane took out a cigarette and lighter from her pocket. It was a bad habit that she had started to slowly get rid of since dating Yuuka. However, when things became stressful, she slipped back into her old ways.

Sitting on the edge of the harbour, she flicked the lid to the lighter upwards, and struck the sparkwheel to get a spark on to the butt of the cigarette. She sighed as she breathed out a puff of smoke, letting all of her stress out.

She looked up at the sky, wondering when she messed up; she just wanted to keep Yuuka safe from harm, but she blew up at her and made her worry instead.

“Ugh, damn it…” she groaned as she took another puff of smoke. “I should’ve kept my mouth shut…”

She was then alerted by the sounds of footsteps. Thinking that Yuuka or someone else had come to talk to her, she turned around, only to come face to face with a masked figure.

“What the hell? Who are you?”

“Old habits die hard, don’t they, Moriya?”

She took a step back cautiously, mentally panicking as this person somehow knew her.

“I asked you who you are.”

“It's funny. You and the others tormented me for years and yet none of you remember me. Just goes to show how fucked up the world is.”

“W-what? What are you talking about?” Akane asked, her eyebrows furrowing.  _ “That’s weird, something about their voice does seem familiar…” _

“I guess I can tell you who I am,” they said, their hand over their mask, “You’re not going to last long anyway.”

Once they took the mask off, Akane’s expression turned to one of horror.

“N-no… It can’t be…”

…

_ 30 minutes later… _

Yuuka was growing more and more anxious the more time Akane was spending by herself. Part of her knows that Akane is fully capable of defending herself, however, she couldn’t help but to be worried.

Hikaru noticed the older girl looked worried and approached her.

“Um, Sugai-san, is everything okay?”

“Y-Yeah, just a bit worried about Akane is all,” Yuuka replied.

“Should we go look for her? It’s nearly been an hour since any of us had last seen her,” Koike asked, also worried for her safety.

“We should. After all we need to stick together in case one of us gets attacked by the gamemaster.”

It was then that they heard an ear splitting scream coming from outside. Everyone rushed to the source of the sound. 

They then found Akane, bloodied and unconscious on the ground.

“No… Akane!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. The mastermind shows themselves to Nen. And their motive is slightly hinted at in their dialogue...
> 
> Now I wonder who their next victim will be...


	3. The Pain of Loving Someone Who Doesn't Love You Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the midst of the investigation behind Akane's sudden injury, more relevations that hurt more than help.

After discovering Akane’s body, the group immediately started hunting for clues. They started scouting around to see if there was anything visible near where Akane was found.

"Yuuka," Watanabe approached her, a used cigarette butt in her hand, "I thought you got her to stop?"

“I guess she just got stressed. After all, I can't control  _ everything  _ she does."

“Maybe if you were there for her more, she wouldn't be in this state."

“I was giving her space; she seemed very tense about something.”

“Risa, there’s no need to be aggressive about this," Kobayashi said. “This is stressful for all of us, but please try to be a bit more considerate.”

"Guys!" Koike yelled, waving around a couple of pieces of paper in her hand.

The others gathered to look at what she found. She opened the first piece of paper, and found that it was a note.

“Do you think this is from the gamemaster?”

“Who else would it be from?”

Cautiously, Koike opened the note so that everyone could read it.

_ “So, you’ve found my first victim.  _

_ As much as I would love to talk about how I tried to kill her, as satisfying as it was, you’d be lucky to know that I’ve kept Moriya-san alive. _

_ In order to keep it that way, however, I would like two of you to divulge your personal secrets. Preferably, Moriya-san’s close friends? _

_ The clock’s ticking~” _

“This has to be a sick joke,” Takemoto said, “So we were all brought here to die?”

“Th-that’s not true. It can’t be…” Matsuda tried to reason.

“Then how do you explain this?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Also, they mentioned Moriya-san’s ‘close friends’... Who could that mean?” a soft voice asked.

“Oh, you’re right, Karin-chan. I wonder who they mean.”

“It could be any of us since we went to the same school,” Kobayashi pondered. “But they specified her ‘close friends’, so…”

As everyone was talking amongst themselves, Hikaru noticed Habu and Yuuka take quick glances at one another, neither not wanting to speak. She cleared her throat, gaining the attention of everyone, collecting a mixture of looks towards her. 

“Sugai-san, Habu-san… are you two the ones the letter’s talking about?”

“It’s a complicated story but… yes.”

“Well, the three of us were friends for quite a while, so we trusted each other on a number of things. The gamemaster must want us to fall out over something.”

“So… the gamemaster is trying to pit us against each other?”

"It seems that way.”

"They’re probably trying to use those secrets as a motive,” Hikaru pondered, gathering more attention on herself. "As in they're using them to try and split everyone apart."

“So, wouldn't it be logical not to say anything?"

“But, if we don’t, they could hurt Akane…” Yuuka muttered, seriously debating in her head.

_ “But still… what secrets would they know about us?" _

“Yuuka,” Habu spoke up, making her look at her. “What do you think we should do?”

"We should just get it done and over with… I don't want to hurt her anymore.”

“Alright… You can go first, if that’s alright.”

Yuuka slowly nodded, taking a deep breath as she looked up at everyone.

“Well… the truth is, me and Akane are dating.”

The whispers started again, making Yuuka nervous.

“Since when?” Kobayashi asked.

“Since the start of our second year. It was after Akane broke up with her ex-boyfriend. We kept it secret since… we didn’t know how you all would take it. Not even our parents know.”

“Yuuka… We always kinda knew.”

Yuuka’s eyes widened, not knowing what to say in response.

“If you told us, we would’ve completely understood,” Koike said. “And besides, you’re a better partner than her ex-boyfriend ever was.”

“Yeah. Plus, you two make a really cute couple,” Ozeki said.

Yuuka blushed slightly. She felt tears well in her eyes as Koike reached in for a hug, wrapping her arms around her neck.

“I’m sorry, guys…” 

“It’s okay. It must’ve been scary to keep it secret this whole time…”

“The question now is,” Hikaru interrupted, “Where did the gamemaster get this information from?”

“Yuuka, was there someone else you or Akane told about you dating?” Kobayashi asked.

In between stifled sobs, Yuuka looked up and took a glance in Habu’s direction. She then looked down, fidgeting her hands.

Koike noticed, and looked at Habu.

“Habu-chan?”

“Do you know something?”

“I-I… Um…”

“Habu-san?”

The younger girls also started to become more suspicious, staring at Habu and whispering among themselves.

“N-no, you got the wrong idea!”

“Then explain yourself,” Koike said, glaring at her.

“It was Akane who told me… but I didn’t tell anyone about it, I swear!”

Hearing Akane’s name made Koike more suspicious. “Yuuka, did you know that Akane told her?”

“E-Eh..?” Yuuka pulled away from Koike, turning around to face Habu, “Since when?”

“She didn’t tell you? It’s been a few weeks since she told me.”

“Why didn’t she tell Sugai-san?”

“She was paranoid that somehow Yuuka’s parents would find out. So she asked me to make sure no one found out.”

Koike was still skeptical, but she knew that Habu was the type of person to keep things to herself.

“More importantly, though, Yuuka just shared her secret. Care to tell us yours, Habu-chan?”

Habu tensed up slightly, her eyes darting around to not make eye contact. Everyone just stared silently as they waited for an answer.

“Well… I actually have… a secret girlfriend, too.”

“Eh?!” Koike’s eyes widened.

“Y-Yeah. You guys wouldn’t know her… she goes to another school.”

“No way…”

“Well, I do remember Habu being popular with the other girls at our school,” Ozeki pondered. “Still, to think she had a secret girlfriend, too…”

“With her popularity, it does make sense as to why she keeps it a secret,” Kobayashi added.

“Habu-chan…” Yuuka approached the girl who she considered a friend, “It’s okay. I can understand why you would want to keep that a secret.”

“Guys, we might want to go inside,” Takemoto said, “Just in case the gamemaster pulls some tricks on us.”

The girls all made their way back, with Watanabe carrying Akane on her back. They decided that it would be best to take turns looking after her.

The first person to do so was Yuuka. While she was looking after Akane, everyone else taking the time to comprehend what they had just seen.

“Are there any first aid supplies?” Yuuka asked.

Matsuda and Ozono started looking around the room, searching for any sign of a first-aid kit. They opened an old locker and found a few bandages, some antiseptic wipes, and some cotton balls.

“Here,” Matsuda handed her the supplies and looked on worriedly as Yuuka looked at Akane’s wounds. “Call if you need anything else, okay?”

Yuuka slowly nodded. “Thanks, Matsuda-chan.”

After the younger pair left, Yuuka began to tend to Akane’s wounds. She heard soft murmurs coming from her.

“Don’t… hurt her…”

Yuuka was surprised to hear her say that, and was curious as to who she was referring to. She leaned closer and heard indecipherable noises. She could only guess she was having a nightmare about what happened to her.

She reached her hand out and stroked her head gently, wishing that she didn’t have to go through this pain.

_ “I’m sorry… you shouldn’t be in this position…” _

She went back to tending her wounds when she heard her speak again.

“Please… I love her…”

Her heart sank as she heard Akane repeat the same phrase over and over. The guilt slowly built up in the pit of her stomach, thinking back to when Akane had yelled at her. 

Once she finished, she just sat beside her, placing her hand on top of Akane’s.

“Akane… I can’t even fathom how much pain you went through… I hope I can make sure you never have to go through this again.”

As she was holding her hand, she noticed a piece of paper that was sticking out from Akane’s pocket. She pulled it out and unfolded it, reading the note.

_ “Oh my God…” _

…

Koike was eyeing Habu, who seemed tense and uneasy. She hadn’t stopped thinking about Habu’s revelation, wondering who it could be.

She debated on whether to confront her, however she refrained from doing so. She wasn’t sure yet on whether her suspicions were correct.

“Miichan, you might want to take a look at this," Watanabe said, handing Koike a piece of paper.

She looked at it and her eyes widened, seeing a picture of Habu with another girl. Although she couldn’t see the other girl’s face, she could clearly tell she was wearing the same school uniform as Habu and the others.

"Where did you find this?"

"Near the place we found Akane. I knew there had to be more than the gamemaster's note so I went back to check through the area."

“Can you tell who this is?” Koike asked, seeing Watanabe squint her eyes at the photo before shaking her head.

“Not really. But considering I found this where Akane was, I’d like to assume it was Akane,” Watanabe replied, “Also I noticed there was writing on the back of it.”

She turned the photo around, and they saw words written in slightly faded ink.

_ “Habu Mizuho is lying.” _

The two exchanged looks before staring at Habu, who was focused on her phone. Watanabe leaned closer to Koike.

“What do you think we should do?”

“We have no other choice. We need to confront her about this.”

They both went and approached Habu, who looked up and made eye contact with Koike.

“Oh, Miichan, Risa. What do you guys want?”

Neither of them spoke up immediately. Instead, Watanabe showed her the photo.

“We found this…”

Habu’s eyes widened, taking the photo as soon as they showed her.

“W-Where did you get this?”

“I went back to investigate where we found Akane, and it was there,” Watanabe said. “More importantly, who exactly is that girl you’re with in the photo?”

“I-I can’t tell you.” 

“She’s your secret girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Koike’s question made her go silent, raising their suspicion.

“Habu-chan, I’d rather you be honest with us. If you don’t, we won’t be able to figure out who the gamemaster is.”

“I-I’m serious about this guys. I’m not comfortable saying who it is.”

Watanabe grew irritated, grabbing Habu by the collar of her shirt.

“Listen, Habu, we don’t have time for you to beat around the bush. Akane was in serious danger and the gamemaster could target her again. Either you tell us, or you live with the guilt of possibly killing her.”

She saw Habu’s face grow even more pale, as if she saw a ghost.

“Alright… I’ll tell you, but promise me one thing?”

“What?”

“...You can’t tell anyone. Especially not Yuuka.”

Watanabe and Koike both nodded.

“The girl in the photo… it’s Akane.”

Once she said that, Koike just walked off, an angered expression on her face.

“You’ve messed up big time, Habu,” Watanabe said with a slight growl. 

“I know… That’s why I don’t want Yuuka to know about this.”

Koike walked back to the two, this time her mind focused on Yuuka and Akane. Her previous suspicions about Akane’s relationship with Habu had been in the back of her mind constantly, even as she tried to break away from them.

“Miichan… I can explain everything,” Habu started to reach out to her, but she backed away.

“Don’t talk to me right now.”

As Koike walked away again, Watanabe glared at Habu.

“Listen, Risa, I’m willing to take full responsibility for this. I just ask that you and Miichan please just keep this a secret from Yuuka.”

“You have my word on it,” Watanabe replied, looking over in Koike’s direction, “But you better start convincing her.”

Habu gulped nervously, slowly nodding her head.

…

Hikaru looked at Hono, who was sitting down in their bedroom absentmindedly. Since they had only just met, she hadn’t yet gotten the chance to properly get to know her better, especially with everything else that was going on.

She walked in and sat down on the sleeping bag beside Hono, and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hono-chan,” she called out to get her attention. Hono looked up at her, startled a bit.

“Hikaru-chan? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… we’ve just met and I wanted to try and get to know you better.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess we can talk.”

As Hono turned herself to face Hikaru better, the two tried to think of how to start the conversation.

“So, I guess you all go to the same school?” Hono first asked.

“Yeah, some of us are in the year below. So we don’t even know each other well. What about you? Where did you go to school?”

“My school was back home in Osaka.”

“Wait,” Hikaru stopped her before she could speak further, “Why would the gamemaster want someone from Osaka when most of us went to school in Tokyo?”

“Hmm… I dunno.”

“Were you a part of any clubs or things like that?”

“Oh yeah! I was in the volleyball club!”

Hikaru wasn’t surprised in the slightest. When they first met, she noticed Hono had the body build of an athlete and attributed it to some sporting activity.

“What about you, Hikaru-chan?”

“I was just in the art club. Was never the sporty type.”

“That’s cool!”

Hikaru smiled, “I did bring a sketchpad and some pencils in case I got bored. But with what’s going on, I don’t think I’d be bringing it out anytime soon…”

“You should! I wanna see your drawings,” Hono said, smiling back.

Hearing that, she felt her cheeks warm up. Hikaru stood up, and walked over to her bag. She got out her small sketchpad, flicking through the pages before standing up and walking back over to her sleeping bag.

“Here,” she showed Hono one of the pages, showing a colourful garden landscape, “I’m not a social person. So I prefer to be by myself and draw things like this.”

“It’s really pretty.”

The two girls continued talking, learning more about each other in the process.

…

Akane felt her head pounding, like she just had a pile of bricks dumped on top of her. She slowly opened her eyes, and found herself laying in a room unfamiliar to her. Her eyes darted around, trying to see if there was anyone else with her.

She then saw Yuuka, lying asleep next to the bed she was in, gently holding her hand. She could only smile, quietly thinking about what happened.

_ “She can’t be back… If she’s here, then she must want revenge…” _

She heard a soft sigh as Yuuka began to stir awake. She turned to face her, sleepily opening her eyes.

“Good morning,” Akane whispered, making sure she didn’t startle her.

Once she saw she was awake, Yuuka’s eyes widened.

“Akane!” She sat up and reached out to hug her. Akane wrapped her arms around Yuuka, and let the older girl cry into her shoulder. “Thank God you’re okay…”

“Yeah… Sorry I make you worry.”

“No, it’s okay…” Yuuka said with a sniffle as they broke the hug. “You’re here now, and that’s all I wanted.”

Akane looked at her, “Where are the others? Are they okay?”

“Yes, they’re alright. Everyone was worried about you, though. Do you remember what happened?”

Yuuka saw Akane’s expression grow dark. Of course she remembered; there’s no way she could forget. But she wasn’t willing to divulge the information she knows, since she was afraid that something would happen to Yuuka.

“Akane?”

“...I’m sorry,” she answered, looking away from her. “I just can’t remember.”

Yuuka frowned. “I see… That’s understandable. You went through something really traumatic.”

Akane slowly nodded, “Yeah…”

“We should get to the others. They must be wondering whether you’re okay.”

“Okay…”

With Yuuka’s help, Akane saw that everyone was minding their own business. When they saw Akane step out, they all started huddling around her, asking her all sorts of questions.

“Moriya-san, are you alright?”

“Akane, did you see the gamemaster?”

“Hey guys, give Akane some space,” Yuuka said. “She said she doesn’t remember what happened when she was attacked.”

“That makes sense,” Watanabe said, looking at the bandages around Akane’s head, “That head injury must’ve been caused by some blunt force.”

“It’s all blurry to me,” Akane replied. “I just remember passing out.”

“The shock might’ve affected her memory, too.”

“So we still don’t have any glimpse of the gamemaster…”

Habu approached the group and listened in to the conversation, still apprehensive over what she had just told Koike and Watanabe.

“Does it still hurt?” she asked in a gentle tone.

“It’s a little sore, yeah…”

“I see. Try not to push yourself too much.”

“Thanks, Habu.”

Koike, who had been by herself, glanced over and continued to see the close intimacy between Akane and Habu. She sighed and walked over to them, holding the photo in her hand.

_ “Habu-chan, I know you told me not to tell her… but it’s for her sake.” _

“Yuuka,” Koike called out, catching Yuuka’s attention, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Uhh, sure…” Yuuka pulled away from Akane and followed Koike to somewhere no one could hear them. “What’s the matter?”

“There’s something you need to know about Habu-chan.”

“E-Eh?”

She pulled out the photo and showed it to Yuuka, who only furrowed her eyebrow in confusion.

“What is this?”

“Risa found this where we found Akane. There’s a message on the back of the photo that said Habu-chan was lying, so when we asked her about it, she said that… she said that it was Akane in that photo with her.”

Yuuka’s eyes widened slightly, looking back down at the photo. She then noticed something that solidified Koike’s explanation.

“That hair band… that’s the hair band I gave Akanen on her birthday…”

She felt her chest tighten looking at the photo, thinking of Akane and Habu being together.

“It… it can’t be true. They can’t be…”

“Yuuka, I’m sorry but I feel like you had to know.”

Yuuka felt numb, trying to comprehend what she had seen and heard. She tried her hardest to deny that it could be true. She wanted to hear the truth for herself.

“Akane wouldn’t lie… She wouldn’t cheat… I can go and ask her myself.”

Koike stopped the older girl as she started to walk away.

“I can’t let Habu-chan know that I’ve told you,” she said. “She made us promise not to tell anyone, but… I had to tell you since--”

“Akane wouldn’t do anything like that! She always prioritizes other people’s happiness before her own! She wouldn’t be that selfish!”

“Yuuka, I know you trust Akane, but you can't give her the benefit of the doubt. Not when our lives are at risk!"

"Just let me go and talk to her, Miichan!"

Koike stood her ground, not letting Yuuka get past her. She held her back as Yuuka became more distressed, screaming and yelling for her to let go.

“Yuuka!” Koike shouted as she forcefully pulled Yuuka back, grabbing her as she collapsed onto her knees.

She heard the older girl start to cry, her hands visibly shaking. Once she heard footsteps, she looked up to see who it was and saw Hikaru and Hono standing in front of her.

“Hikaru-chan, Hono-chan?”

“H-how long have you been standing there?”

"We heard commotion coming from outside of our room, so we came to check up on what it was," Hikaru replied, looking up at her roommate. 

"We just got here. What happened?"

Koike looked down at Yuuka, who was still distraught and panicked. She crouched down and looked her in the eyes.

"I guess I have no choice. Let's talk to them together, it'll be better that way."

Yuuka slowly nodded, standing up with Koike's help. 

“Hikaru-chan, Hono-chan, get everyone together. This is important.”

==============

A/N Like the cliffhanger? ;) 


	4. Hatred, Distrust and Bloodlust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the gamemaster has the girls in their hands, there was a thin line between trust and betrayal. With more revelations and suffering, a sacrifice had to be made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lets hope you guys cry as I (anyway idk about Ruka) did.

Once everyone was gathered, there was a suffocating silence. No one knew why they were called to the meeting, only being told that it was something important.

When Habu saw Yuuka and Koike standing together and noticed their expressions on their faces, she immediately felt a pit in her stomach. Watanabe glanced over at her, sensing her uneasiness.

“Listen everyone, we found out something that is serious, especially considering what happened.”

There were more voices of confusion. Akane looked over at Yuuka, who only looked away with a tinge of anger in her expression. She then saw Koike place a piece of paper in front of everyone, realizing that it was a photo of Habu with her.

_ “Oh sh*t no…” _

It was then that Koike broke the murmurs, “Risa found this outside where Akane was. Neither of us couldn’t exactly figure out who the person to the left was. Akanen, Habu-chan, would either of you care to explain?”

Akane and Habu looked at each other as the other girls started whispering amongst themselves again. They could feel the same pressure as all eyes were on them.

“Yuuka,” Habu spoke, walking over to her, “This was all my fault. Akane has no reason to be blamed for this.”

“I want to hear Akane’s answer,” Yuuka said firmly, visibly upset towards Habu.

“I should’ve known better,” Akane said, head hung low, “I should’ve known to stay away, knowing I was dating you…”

Yuuka felt her heart shatter, fresh tears welling in her eyes.

“I thought I could trust you, Akane…”

“I’m sorry.”

Everyone was left in shock, watching as Yuuka stormed out of the room. Akane, feeling guilty, rushed after her, wanting to explain herself further.

However, Watanabe confronted her, pushing her back before she could catch up.

“Move, Risa.”

Instead of complying, she raised her hand and slapped Akane across her cheek. Akane stared back at her shocked as she held her cheek, the room having fallen silent witnessing the sight.

“You seriously messed up, you know? Yuuka’s heartbroken now because you betrayed her trust!”

Akane looked down, still not uttering any words. Watanabe wasn’t going to back down, grabbing her by the collar.

“If you want to make sure you don’t lose her, you better take responsibility.”

“Yeah, I know…”

Watanabe slowly let go, letting Akane run after Yuuka. Everyone else started murmuring amongst one another again, concerned over what just happened.

Hikaru looked at Habu, who was covering her face with her hands in regret. As much as she wanted to comfort her, she just couldn’t think of the words.

…

Yuuka ran to the beach, turning back occasionally to see if Akane was following her. As she stood alone, facing the ocean, she sobbed harshly as her cheeks became stained with tears.

_ “Why did it have to be me? Was I not good enough?” _

She felt as if her whole world collapsed, her legs growing heavier as she stood there. Memories flashed through her mind of the times she spent with Akane, the two of them donning bright smiles on their faces.

She thought back to their first date, their late night texts, their first kiss. She even remembered the times where she thought their relationship would fail, but she knew they both persevered to make it work.

However, even she knew that most things would come to an end. She just wasn’t expecting it to be this way; she felt like the faith she had put into Akane and their relationship had been shattered.

As much as she was disappointed in Akane, she felt even more disappointed and betrayed in knowing that her best friend was dating the one person she loved the most. She and Habu both promised to tell one another anything, so to think she would so this to her had a big effect.

The heaviness in her heart grew as her sobs died down, listening to the waves against the shore. She stared out at the dark ocean and wondered what she could do to ease her pain.

_ “Maybe… I should just give up and end it all…” _

She slowly got up and started walking out into the ocean. Goosebumps ran up her body as the cold water touched her body, submerging her deeper the further she walked.

As she got halfway submerged into the water, she heard footsteps coming from the beach. She looked back and saw someone wearing a mask watching her from the shore.

_ “Who is that?” _

The figure beckoned her to come closer. Feeling drawn to the masked person, she walked back to the shore, her body shaking slightly as the wind hit her soaked body.

“Sugai Yuuka, would you like to put your faith in Moriya Akane to the ultimate test?”

“E-Eh?” She was utterly confused by the person’s question.

Before she could respond, she felt a nauseous gas spray into her face. She coughed as her body grew heavy and fell forward, her vision blurring as she looked back up at the masked figure.

“Soon, we’ll both see where her true feelings lie…”

After that, Yuuka’s mind went blank and she passed out.

…

_ “Where the hell is she? She couldn’t have gone far…” _

Akane had been searching every inch of the island looking for Yuuka. Her efforts were in vain as she couldn’t seem to find her anywhere. She eventually made her way back to the others and saw that everyone was still gathered together.

Watanabe noticed her, glancing at her with a worried look on her face. She walked towards them and saw that they were all looking at a phone.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she approached.

“The gamemaster has Yuuka,” Watanabe announced, “They called through Miichan’s phone; said that they wanted you and Habu if she was going to be saved.”

Akane tensed up, glancing briefly at Habu, who was pacing in the back of the room.

“We’ve got no other choice.”

Hearing her speak, Habu looked up, sweat visible on her forehead.

“B-But... there’s no telling what they could do to us… or to Yuuka. It could all just be a trap.”

“Would you rather stay here and Yuuka die because you were cowards?” Watanabe said, a venomous edge in her tone.

“She’s right… We have to go,” Akane said, gripping her fists. “I’d never forgive myself if she dies because of my dumb mistake.”

Habu took a deep breath and nodded, steeling her resolve to save Yuuka.

“Okay…”

“Did the gamemaster say where they were keeping Yuuka?” Akane then asked.

“Yeah. We wrote down the details of where they said she was." Koike handed her a slip of paper with a map.

“Both of you…” Watanabe spoke again, giving them a serious gaze. “Be careful.”

Akane and Habu both nodded and faced each other.

“Let’s go.”

...

They both walked to the place that was described in the phone call, reaching a small hut quite far from their main meeting place.

They stepped in, only to find Yuuka tied up and unconscious.

“Yuuka..!”

Akane started to walk towards her. However, Habu saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye.

“Look out!” she shouted as she pushed Akane. She screamed as the figure grabbed her and held her in place. Her breath hitched as she saw the figure pull out a gun and aim it towards her head.

"It's good to see you again, Moriya.”

Akane looked up as she saw the gamemaster enter the room, their mask on their face. However, the pit in her stomach grew since she knew who was behind it.

“Let them go…” she said, a lump lodged in her throat as she stopped herself from saying the culprit’s name.

“Oh, don’t worry. I plan on letting…  _ one _ of them go,” they said as they pulled out a gun, aiming it at Yuuka’s head. “My question for you, Moriya, is who?”

Akane’s eyes widened. She looked back and forth between the two, seeing Habu hopelessly struggling with fear in her eyes, and Yuuka knocked out unable to do anything.

“Why are you doing this? Why should either of them have to suffer?! This isn’t fair!” Akane yelled.

"You think this isn’t fair? Why did  _ I  _ have to suffer the torment you and the others put me through years ago?! You even put other people through the same!"

"There's a clear difference here! We never resorted to violence!"

“And yet, look where we are,” the gamemaster said as they grabbed Yuuka’s unconscious head, holding it up. “Do you think your relationship with Sugai will ever be the same now after what you did?”

Akane then kept silent, thinking of the right words to say in retaliation. She knew that what she did was wrong and she deeply hurt her relationship with Yuuka. She desperately wanted to make amends for everything but was so afraid that Yuuka would never forgive her.

But part of her mind knew that killing Habu for that opportunity wasn't the answer. She wanted to avoid losing either of them as much as she could.

"Cat got your tongue? Answer me before I change my mind and shoot them both."

Akane gripped her fists, fighting the tears in her eyes.

"Akane," Habu said, still struggling against her captor's hold. "Go on. Save Yuuka."

“What?! But--”

“It’s fine… I messed up and neither you nor Yuuka should have to pay for what I did… I know there could've been a better outcome than this, but you have no other choice but to choose one of us. I'd rather it be me than her."

Akane bit her lip, "But what about Miichan?! What would she say if I told her they killed you?!"

“Miichan… Just tell her that words can't say how sorry I am…"

Akane couldn't hold her tears back any longer.

"And besides, I'd also rather you and Yuuka settle your differences before either of you die here."

“Mizuho…”

“And please tell Yuuka… I’m sorry for everything.”

Before Akane could say anything, the figure holding Habu cocked their gun and pulled the trigger.

**_Bang!_ **

Akane cried out in horror, seeing Habu’s body drop to the ground. Blood seeped out from her head as she laid there lifeless, her eyes cold and blank. Akane cried as the gamemaster just laughed, as if mocking them.

“Oh, Habu… You were always too nice for your own good.”

A flare of anger rose in Akane’s chest. She wanted to grab the gamemaster and punch them in the face, but she knew she would be killed in the current situation.

“Be thankful that I’m willing to spare you and Sugai for now… But just know, if one of you slips up again, there will be consequences.”

With that, the gamemaster and their lackey walked away. Akane just sat there, sobbing as the reality slowly sinked in. She had just witnessed the death of someone who meant a lot to her. She slowly looked back at Yuuka, wondering how she would be able to tell her or the others what happened.

…

“What’s taking them so long?” Ozeki wondered as she and the others waited for Habu and Akane to return with Yuuka.

“You don’t think something could’ve happened to them… do you?” Matsuda asked worriedly.

“We found Akane unconscious. I wouldn’t be surprised if something did happen to them,” Watanabe replied.

As they were all anxiously waiting, Koike noticed someone approaching the building from outside the window. When she looked closer, she saw Akane carrying a barely conscious Yuuka on her back.

“Guys! I see them!”

The closer they got, however, Koike noticed that someone wasn’t with them. She immediately felt a sense of dread wash over her. 

As they walked in, Akane made her way to them, emotionless as Yuuka’s body limply weighed her back down.

“Moriya-san… Where’s Habu-san?”

Her eyes widened as she heard Habu’s name. She slowly sunk down to her knees, letting out a cry of anguish that startled everyone.

“What’s wrong? What happened?!” Watanabe asked as she knelt down, only to see Akane staring at the ground with an empty expression in her eyes.

“It’s not my fault…” She murmured, repeating the phrase over and over.

“Moriya, snap out of it! What happened to Habu?”

“It’s not my fault..! It’s not my fault! I’m sorry! Mizuho!”

“Someone, help me carry Yuuka to the infirmary.”

Fujiyoshi nodded, assisting Watanabe in prying Yuuka off the distraught Akane’s body and carrying her off.

“Akane, I need you to answer me,” Koike said, kneeling in front of Akane and holding her shoulders. “Where is Habu-chan?”

Akane just shook her head, still muttering to herself.

“Akane!”

“N-no… sh-she… she… she…” 

Koike saw how pale she was and decided that it would be best if they talked somewhere private. She helped Akane to her feet and ushered her to one of the rooms, and began talking to her again.

“Okay, Akane… Now tell me, what happened?”

“Why did it have to be her..?”

Hearing her still murmuring to herself, she approached her and started trying to help her calm down.

“Just take deep breaths.”

Taking heed to Koike’s instructions, Akane slowly started to calm down. As she heaved out a sigh and wiped away her tears, she looked up towards Koike, dejected and full of despair.

“M-Miichan… she… she’s gone.”

Koike’s eyes widened, now understanding the pain she must be going through.

“W-what?”

“The gamemaster… They killed her… They shot her…”

She could only hug Akane, stroking her hair as she started crying again.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault, Akane.”

“But if I had chosen differently… I would’ve lost Yuuka…”

“Huh?” Koike broke the hug, furrowing her brow.

“They forced me to choose… I could only save one of them… Habu said… to let Yuuka live…”

Hearing that, Koike started to back away from her. Her heart broke as she heard what Akane had done, feelings of sympathy turning into those of anger.

“W-What… You let Habu-chan… You let Mizuho die?”

“I couldn’t choose… I wanted to save them both--”

“But you let Mizuho die!” Koike screamed angrily, tears visible in her eyes as Akane looked up.

"You weren't there… You don't know what I saw…" Akane murmured, her fists gripped tightly.

“What then? Tell me! Why couldn’t you do anything to save Mizuho?!”

"They shot her before I could say or do anything! What would you have done if you were in my position?! What if the gamemaster threatened to kill you in exchange for sparing Mizuho?"

"I--"

“What else could I have done?! After hearing her say she would die if it meant sparing Yuuka… I didn’t want her to die either! But… I was so scared..!” Akane held her head as she began to cry again. "She wanted me to tell you… she was sorry… So sorry she couldn’t describe it…”

Koike felt a pain in her heart, thinking about how Habu would do anything to make her and the others happy. She knew she couldn’t be upset over Akane for what happened to her, but she couldn’t help but to feel hurt that Habu was gone.

“Miichan… I don’t expect you to forgive me, but… please know that I’ll do whatever it takes to avenge her.”

“Thank you, Akane… I know it wasn’t truly your fault that this happened, but… I just need some space…”

“I’ll leave you alone then,” Akane said, walking away.

Once she was out of the room, she made her way to the infirmary to check on Yuuka. She saw her sitting on the bed, looking down at her feet.

“Yuuka?”

“Leave me alone, Akane.”

Akane was taken aback by the sudden cold tone in her voice. She knew that there was something wrong, but she didn’t want to hurt her.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” she said, slowly approaching.

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you cheat on me with Habu-chan?”

“I… It was an impulsive decision.”

Yuuka looked up at her with an empty expression. She didn’t say anything, which only added onto her concern.

“Yuuka… I’m really, really sorry. I mean it,” Akane bowed her head low.

“Why should I trust your apology? Why should I trust you after you’ve betrayed that trust once before?”

“I know… What I did was wrong and I hurt you badly… But that’s why it hurts me so much too. Because I still love you…”

“What about Habu-chan?”

Akane tensed up, the mention of her name causing the unpleasant memories of what happened to her flash through her mind briefly. It churned her stomach to think about it, but she slowly looked back up at Yuuka.

“Yuuka… She’s gone.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I guess you don’t remember…” Akane frowned. “The gamemaster kidnapped you… Me and Mizuho went to save you, but… They forced me to choose which one of you to save… But Mizuho said… to let you live… and to tell you… she was sorry for everything… And then… they shot her…”

“Habu-chan… she died?” Yuuka’s eyes widened.

Akane slowly nodded, shutting her eyes.

“I’m so sorry… I wish I could’ve saved both of you, but… I couldn’t do anything… All I’ve done is screw things up… I promise I’ll do everything I can to make up for what I did, for yours and Mizuho’s sake… Please, Yuuka…”

Yuuka felt tears well in her eyes hearing Akane’s voice crack. She had so many conflicted feelings, but she knew she couldn’t fathom what Akane saw.

She saw the look on Akane’s face change from one of despair, to one of anger as she rose her head back up.

“I swear they’ll pay…” she heard her say under her breath.

Yuuka just stayed silent and looked at Akane as she took a deep breath, calming herself down.

“Akane… I can’t forgive you completely, but… I don’t want to hate you completely either…” she finally said. “I think we should take a break… I’m sure it's taken a big toll on you, and… I need some time to just piece together what happened.”

Akane slowly nodded. “Okay…”

…

After Yuuka had woken up, Akane told everyone else the harsh news about Habu’s death. Everyone’s reactions varied, from disbelief, shock, sadness, and panic.

“We’re all going to die here!” Takemoto exclaimed, holding her head in her hands.

“I can’t believe… Habu-san…” Ozono covered her mouth as tears started welling up in her eyes. Matsuda stood beside her and hugged her.

“We need to calm down,” Watanabe said, “The gamemaster wants us to panic like this. We’ll just be playing right into their hands.”

“But what can we do?” Ozeki then asked. “Now that we know they’re serious about resorting to murder, how will we be able to stay safe? They must know every inch of this place.”

Hikaru looked around, seeing everyone panicked and confused. She glanced over at Hono and saw that she was looking down at the ground, staying silent the entire time. 

“We need to find out who this person is,” she declared, catching everyone’s attention. “It’s the only way we can stay alive and escape this place.”

“You’re right,” Matsuda said, still comforting Ozono.

“For now, we have to stick together. If anyone sees or finds anything out of the ordinary, just shout.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement, the atmosphere slowly eased up. They dispersed into their small groups, and talked amongst themselves about what had just transpired.

Matsuda and Takemoto were alone with Ozono, the three of them silent as they were still trying to process everything that just happened.

“I still can’t believe that Habu-san is really gone…” Takemoto said.

“It’s a reality we’re going to have to live with… People are going to die and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Matsuda reasoned.

“Matsuri-chan…”

“I’m being serious. We now know that the gamemaster is psychotic enough to kill us in cold blood, and we can’t fight back unless we want to die ourselves.” 

“Sure, but… what can we possibly do to fight back?” Ozono asked. “We have no idea how much the gamemaster actually has planned, and besides, we’re just normal highschoolers. We just can’t predict when and where they’ll strike next.”

“That’s why we need to find out who this person is as soon as possible.”

“Matsuri-chan, we should think this through before doing anything irrational. If we don’t, one of us could get put in danger again.”

Matsuda sighed, “I know. But we need to try and find clues before they can find out what we’re doing.”

Takemoto looked at her friend and just sighed. Meanwhile, Ozono was just listening to everything that was being said. She wasn’t sure what to say about it, and was conflicted. Both Matsuda and Takemoto had fallen silent, their expressions telling of apprehension and nervousness.

“H-hey, we shouldn’t argue over this. You’re both right, and I say we should just take it slow. Until we know for sure that the gamemaster is targeting someone else, we should just take a rest from all this. The last thing I want is for someone to panic.”

They looked at each other before agreeing with Ozono’s notion of taking a break. Matsuda took a glance at Ozono.

“Are you going to be okay? Me and Yui-chan are going back to our room.”

She slowly nodded. “I’ll be fine…”

…

While everyone was mingling amongst themselves, one person was sitting alone in a dark room watching them. Through computer monitors set up on a long desk, the gamemaster could see what was happening in every single room.

“Hmm… let’s see,” they pondered as they typed on the keyboard, the monitors switching to a view of a certain room. As if on cue, one of the girls stepped inside. “Ah, it’s Takemoto.”

They watched on as Matsuda also walked into the room, the two girls clearly still tense from their earlier conversation.

“Seems we’ve hit another rift. Friendships are always hard to maintain under such tense conditions. Perhaps we should mix things up to test their bonds.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd you guys like that twist? Sorry this update came really late, mentally not been doing well and I really needed a break but I hope this one was enjoyable.


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